Hobby & Model Shop Insurance
A model shop holds two things most retailers do not: a genuine fire load on the shelves, and stock whose value is set by collectors rather than by a price list.
Two Things That Make This Trade Different
The fire load is lithium batteries and solvents. Radio controlled models run on lithium polymer packs, which are charged in store for demonstration and returns, and the paints, thinners, glues and aerosols on the modelling aisle are flammable in their own right. Neither is dangerous when handled properly and both change how a fire starts and spreads.
The second issue is seasonal. This trade does a disproportionate share of its year in the eight weeks before Christmas, so a stock sum insured set on an average is wrong in exactly the period when the shop is fullest and most likely to be burgled.
What Hobby & Model Shop Insurance Covers
Stock, at its seasonal peak
The main section, and the one that needs a figure for December rather than for an average month. Many insurers will add a seasonal increase clause that lifts the limit automatically for a stated period.
High value and collectable items
Sealed collectables, discontinued kits, graded cards and rare pieces whose value is well above their original retail price. These need listing, because the single article limit on general stock will cap them.
Contents and fit out
Shelving, display cabinets, counters and any gaming tables. Where you lease, the fit out is usually the tenant's responsibility rather than the landlord's.
Business interruption
Lost gross profit while you cannot trade. The timing matters more here than almost anywhere: a closure in November is a different financial event from the same closure in June.
Public and employers' liability
Customers in the shop, and anyone attending a gaming night or a club session on your premises. Employers' liability is compulsory from the first employee and covers casual seasonal staff too.
Product liability
Injury caused by goods you sold. Relevant where you supply batteries, chargers or assembled models, and more so if you build or repair for customers.
Where The Cover Stops
Wordings differ between insurers, so treat these as the usual position rather than as universal fact. Where one of them matters to you, it is worth checking on your own schedule before you need to.
Average on seasonal stock
Insure for an average and suffer a December loss, and the insurer can reduce the settlement in proportion. Hold three times the stock in the run up to Christmas and that is the month the claim will happen in.
Lithium battery storage conditions
Insurers increasingly ask how many cells are held, where, and whether anything is left on charge unattended. Expect conditions about charging in a non-combustible container and segregating damaged or swollen cells.
Flammable stock limits
Paints, thinners, glues and aerosols may be subject to a quantity limit or storage conditions. A stockroom with a pallet of solvent based paint is a different risk from a display rack of it.
Single article limit on collectables
General stock cover caps any one item, often at a few hundred pounds. A sealed collectable or a graded card worth far more settles at the cap unless it was specified.
Customers' models left for building or repair
Somebody else's model on your bench is property in your care, custody and control, which standard liability excludes. If you build or repair, that needs covering specifically.
Lithium Cells Are A Fire Risk Insurers Now Price
Radio controlled models, drones and powered scale vehicles all run on lithium polymer packs, and a hobby shop usually holds a lot of them: stock, demonstration packs, customer returns and anything on charge behind the counter. Damaged, swollen or over-discharged cells are routine in this trade, and those are the ones that fail.
Insurers ask about it now in the way they ask trades about hot works. How many cells are held, how they are stored, whether damaged cells are segregated, and whether anything is left charging overnight when nobody is in the building.
The answers that improve terms are the same ones that prevent the fire: charging in a metal cabinet or a purpose made bag, never overnight, and a separate container for anything swollen or returned. None of it is expensive and all of it is checkable after a loss.
The Christmas Peak Is An Insurance Problem
Few retail trades concentrate as hard into one period. A model or games shop can be carrying several times its usual stock through November and December, and that is also when the shop is busiest, most visible and most attractive to break into.
A sum insured set on an average annual stock holding is therefore wrong in the only month that really matters. Where average applies, a December fire or burglary settles at the proportion your figure bears to the true value, which on a tripled stockholding is a severe reduction.
The fix is simple and most insurers offer it: either declare the peak as the sum insured, or ask for a seasonal increase clause that lifts the limit by a stated percentage for a stated period. It costs far less than people assume because the exposure only exists for part of the year.
Collectables Do Not Behave Like Retail Stock
Much of this trade's value sits in items whose worth is nothing to do with their retail price. A discontinued kit, a sealed box, a graded card or a limited run model can be worth many times what it cost, and it will not be replaceable from a wholesaler.
That matters twice over. The single article limit on general stock cover will cap a settlement well below value, and the basis of settlement question is genuinely hard, because replacement means finding another one on the secondary market rather than reordering.
List anything significant individually, keep evidence of value, and where a piece is genuinely rare ask about an agreed value. Doing that after a loss is not possible, and the conversation is much easier with a photograph and a purchase record than without.
In-Store Gaming Nights
A lot of shops in this trade run tournaments, club nights and painting sessions, often outside normal trading hours. That is a different activity from retail and it belongs on the policy.
Public liability extends to people on your premises, but an insurer who thinks they are insuring a shop open nine to five has not priced for thirty people in the building on a Thursday evening. There is also a question about who is supervising, whether under 18s attend, and whether anything is served.
It is almost always perfectly insurable. The problem is only ever that nobody mentioned it.
What Moves The Price
We do not publish a starting price for this trade, because a figure that is not drawn from policies we actually placed is worth nothing to you. What we can tell you is what the premium is built from.
- Stock sum insured, and whether it reflects the seasonal peak
- Quantity of lithium cells held and how they are stored
- Flammable stock: paints, thinners, glues and aerosols
- Value of collectable or high value individual items
- Security: locks, alarm specification, shutters and CCTV
- Whether you run events outside trading hours
We are a broker, so we take it to several insurers rather than quoting one. Call 02382 000820 and you will have a real figure rather than a range.
What We Need To Quote
- Stock sum insured, average and at the December peak
- A list of individually valuable or collectable items
- How many lithium cells are held and where they are charged
- Quantity of paints, thinners and aerosols, and where stored
- Whether you build or repair customers' models
- Whether you host gaming nights or clubs, and when
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this policy.
- Public liabilityCustomers on the premises, events, and the care and custody exclusion.
- Shop insuranceThe general retail package, and the sums insured most shops get wrong.
- Business interruptionThe cover that decides whether a shop survives a fire or a flood.
- Talk to a brokerTell us what you sell and we will tell you what actually needs covering.
Common questions
How should I insure stock that triples before Christmas?+
Either declare the peak figure as your sum insured, or ask for a seasonal increase clause, which lifts the limit by a stated percentage for a stated period. Insuring on an average is how a December claim gets reduced by average, and December is when the loss is most likely. The extra premium is modest because the exposure only exists for part of the year.
Do insurers worry about lithium batteries in a model shop?+
Yes, and increasingly so. Lithium polymer packs for radio controlled models are a genuine fire cause, particularly damaged or swollen cells and anything left charging unattended. Expect questions about quantity, storage, segregation of damaged cells and overnight charging. Charging in a metal cabinet and never overnight are the answers that move the terms.
Are collectable items covered for what they are worth?+
Only if they are listed. General stock cover carries a single article limit, often a few hundred pounds, so a sealed collectable or graded card worth considerably more will settle at the cap. List anything significant, keep evidence of value, and ask about an agreed value for genuinely rare pieces.
Are paints, glues and thinners a problem for insurance?+
They are a flammable stock question rather than a problem. Insurers may apply a quantity limit or storage conditions, and a stockroom holding a lot of solvent based product is rated differently from a display rack. Declare roughly what you hold and where, and it is usually straightforward.
Do I need to tell my insurer about gaming nights?+
Yes. An insurer pricing a shop that trades nine to five has not priced for thirty people in the building on a Thursday evening. It is almost always insurable, and the only real problem is when nobody mentions it. Say who supervises, whether under 18s attend and whether anything is served.
Other shops we cover
What our customers say on Google
5.0average from 169 Google reviews